Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / One Leg Up BTS With Jake Kosack and The Bronx Zoo Media Entity 4-1-24
Transcript
- 0:02Here's your host, Alex Garrett. All Right, well, yes, I
- 0:08am wearing Yankees gold because I finally feel like this team is up to gold
- 0:12standard once again. Four and oh against Houston to start the series and the
- 0:18season. So I want to bring on Jake Kosak, who, by the
- 0:21way, tweeted like three weeks ago, you know, I was living in
- 0:24this full time job I wasn't happy with. Now I'm having a wine with
- 0:27Bernie Williams. I mean, this is the kind of life Jake Cosack has
- 0:30made for himself with the Bronx Zoo, and I'm so honored that he's on
- 0:34my podcast and vlog today. Jake, what a weekend. Ah, It
- 0:38was the most exciting opening weekend I can remember in at least my adult life.
- 0:44I every expectation that you know I had was fulfilled. I saw,
- 0:52I envisioned this when I saw the roster we built, I really thought it
- 0:56was the only thing that I think would have made you off season better.
- 1:00I said it from the beginning with signing Josh Hater. Other than that,
- 1:03it was a perfect, perfect off season, and we saw how good Josh
- 1:06Hayter could be, so it would have been nice on our team but other
- 1:10than that, it was a perfect offseason. I understand the frustrations with the
- 1:12starting pitching. We didn't envision Cole getting hurt. Cole doesn't get hurt.
- 1:18Rotation looks good. But Down had a good outing, Stroman had a good
- 1:21outing. Cotez bounced back, he fought back. It was good outing.
- 1:23So I mean, yeah, Cole and that rotation come July. I mean,
- 1:27this team can be unstoppable. And uh, you know, as long
- 1:32as our bullpen comes together, strong guys stand out like Ian Hamilton did this
- 1:38weekend, There's there's nothing that can stop us. I'll say that every single
- 1:42day until the end of the year. All right, Well, I'll tell
- 1:45you what shoot out to me is the fact that we're playing small ball and
- 1:48walks. Yes, the walking is back. I mean we haven't seen that
- 1:51kind of patience at the plate. Is it a possibility that the coaching changes
- 1:56around Boone are making the difference here? I feel like that's a possible.
- 2:00Absolutely. You know, different hitting coach comes in, right, different bench
- 2:06coach comes in. That that's gonna make a change because you're going to get
- 2:10different perspectives, different well ideas, but different methods and our way of doing
- 2:21things was not working. It was. It was evident. We bunted the
- 2:24other night. I was a static. You hardly see bunts in Yankees baseball.
- 2:29It seems like it worked, and you said small ball. We played
- 2:35the game the way the game is supposed to be played, not just for
- 2:37the Yankees but baseball, and we clawed back. It seemed like each game
- 2:43we might have been out of it at some point, and last year,
- 2:46a year before that, late September, we didn't have that kind of hope
- 2:50that we could. You know. I mean obviously fans like you know myself,
- 2:53who were always going to believe, but you know, I get it,
- 2:57like it. We we seemed like we were out of it and we
- 3:00would be out of it for the rest of the game. These guys came
- 3:02back late. Sodo being Juan Soto, He's a superstar who is only twenty
- 3:07five years old. And when you put in perspective, Judge was Rookie of
- 3:10the Year at twenty five years old. It's incredible to think of what the
- 3:15future holds. And I just think, you know, we're not amped up
- 3:19because we swept first game of the year. We swept the Astros. We
- 3:23had everyone contribute for dugo os Waldough there's reason to be excited. There is
- 3:31now I gotta ask you about Soto. Now, did you go to spring
- 3:34training? Did you get to see him play? Was that energy there in
- 3:37spring training? I did not get to go down to Tampa this year.
- 3:39We had a lot of events for the Zoo up in New York. We
- 3:43planned to travel. I know they're in Phoenix. I love that area,
- 3:46the stadium, around the area around the stadium. It's electric there in Phoenix.
- 3:53I'll give him that very fun atmosphere. I wish I could have made
- 3:58it to Houston. Yeah, we're preparing for New York. I've been watching
- 4:02as much as I can, doing my research on what the fan aspect is
- 4:06like. I'm just a static for opening Day in the Bronx because I will
- 4:11be in a rare form that I don't think anyone could have ever imagined,
- 4:15especially if they happen to go on in know seven and zero. I mean,
- 4:17that would be an unbelievable start to the year. Although the Arizona team,
- 4:20now, the Diamondbacks are something too, I wouldn't say worry about,
- 4:25but you want to take two out of three because they are the defending NL
- 4:27champions. They got some credibility, now, don't they Absolutely? I mean,
- 4:31and they made moves. They made really good moves this offseason to improve
- 4:34their lineup and of course with Montgomery, so they're not just counting themselves out
- 4:42as a one of one chance in the World Series. They're contenders in a
- 4:46tough division. But the Vehicle and I think that we are a better team.
- 4:51So overly concerned, I'm always you know, I'm not concerned. I
- 4:58just want to win. So I'm gonna into this series with the mindset of
- 5:01win each game, one day at a time. Right now, we're pays
- 5:04for one sixty two and oh so no one, no one ever said that
- 5:08can't be People say it can't be done, but doesn't mean it can,
- 5:11you know, not be done. Well, I had predicted them ninety five.
- 5:15They look like a better than ninety five win team right now, would
- 5:17you agree? I thought from the roster on paper it was one hundred three
- 5:23wins or more team. I think that we're doing this without Judge. Essentially,
- 5:30he didn't produce much this weekend. I'm not worried he's judged. He's
- 5:33gonna bounce back, He's gonna do his thing, and you know I was
- 5:39out. I mean, I was just happy to see him have support.
- 5:42He didn't have support that those type of games, we would just rely on
- 5:45him. Now we don't have to just do do that, you know,
- 5:47so do pdugo. You feel confident with them at the plate. They have
- 5:50good at bats as Waldo, who always deserved a shot. I didn't think
- 5:56he got his fair shot last year after we gave it to him in twenty
- 5:59two. So I think there's a lot to be excited about. And I
- 6:03think once Judge starts producing teams might just forfeit. I saw that tweet today.
- 6:10That was a great tweet. Now I want to ask you about the
- 6:13Bronx zoo and you become a different person when you're in the crowd out like
- 6:16the Yankee say, I mean you're the hype man. Do you feel like
- 6:19you're a teenager again when you're in one of those fans like we're all going
- 6:23to the games? Is a kid again? Is that what it is?
- 6:26Absolutely? I feel like that's well, that's my true self. You know,
- 6:30when I'm out there, I don't play a part. Anyone who knows
- 6:32me, I'm the same way in person as I am on camera. I
- 6:36authenticity matters to me. I don't want to be fake. I don't want
- 6:41it to seem fake. I love the team. I've always been like that,
- 6:46you know. Anyway, Ask anyone. I go nuts at Easter dinner
- 6:48yesterday, go watching Soto. When I was in college, I went nuts
- 6:51at the games, or when I was in my dorm. It doesn't matter.
- 6:56One person's in the room, no one's in the room, giant crowds
- 7:00outside the stadium. I'm getting that excited about this team. So I'm a
- 7:03kid again. Every time I get to do it, I get like butterflies
- 7:09every time I'm about to walk on that street. Yeah, I just I
- 7:11love it. I'm grateful to do it. I'm thankful that, you know,
- 7:15the fans are receptive of it, and you know, it's become kind
- 7:18of this entity of its own at the stadium. People come to the Yankee
- 7:23game, they want to talk to the Zoo, and that means everything to
- 7:28may think that, you know, we're leaving our impact on this team.
- 7:31Now, maybe there's a historical reference. People don't understand. It's the Bronx.
- 7:34Zoo is actually the name of the team and the nickname back in the
- 7:36seventies because it was so wild. Reggie Thurman, Billy Martin, I mean,
- 7:41did you kind of pick up that historical reference when you named it the
- 7:44Bronx Zoo are Well, absolutely, I was down to two names. I
- 7:49think I was gonna call it the Bronx burn and tribute to the Bronx's burning.
- 7:55But the Bronx Zoo is just a nickname for not only the fans at
- 7:58certain points in our history, but of course that late seventies team. You
- 8:03know, a lot of media outlets labeled it as the Bronx Zoo, and
- 8:05I'm like, that's a great name for shaw. I said that Greg Nettles
- 8:09called it the Bronx Zoo personally. I think he literally had that quote.
- 8:13Yep, players, you know, they they coined that phrase. And I
- 8:16remember sitting in my house downstairs and I said, man, that's that's the
- 8:22name. I like. I I made the logo myself, I made you
- 8:26know, I do all the editing, the designing, everything for the zoo.
- 8:30So I remember saying that's the name, like it felt right, and
- 8:35it kind of picked up and actually I made a graphic that I'm posting tonight.
- 8:39We have completed our Bronx Zoo roster, if you will. We we
- 8:46interviewed Reggie and right, we interviewed Chambliss at first, Randolph Dent, Nettles,
- 8:50Lou Panela Roy White, and then of course we interviewed Diana Munson because
- 8:56we couldn't. Uh, you know, I wish I had the opportunity to
- 8:58make there. Know I've been to that dinner. It's such a special night.
- 9:01I've been. I've had the pleasure of interviewing Diana too. What a
- 9:03great lady. And the support that they bring to the city through Thurman's name
- 9:09is is something that needs to be broadcast a lot, right, absolutely,
- 9:13I mean Thurman. You know, I also named it that because I always
- 9:16had a connection with that team with my dad, you know my dad that
- 9:20I always heard and I'm sure you can relate, like grown is sort of
- 9:24my seventies historian there because he was there for the for the Bronx and he
- 9:28was right in the middle of it as a bat boy, you know,
- 9:31so he has an amazing story and you know, I just I always felt
- 9:35an affinity for that team. And yeah, you know Thurman, Uh,
- 9:39he's one of those Yankees lord that I just think he's in the top.
- 9:43That's Shalan for a reason of his story, his his mystique about him,
- 9:48because he was a tough guy. He would run through a wall for you
- 9:52know, a any played to be completed, but you know, you could
- 9:56see through the foundation. And that's why the night's so nice to hear how
- 10:01much you do behind the scenes that no one knew about. And that's what
- 10:03a baseball player is to me. You know, a guy who doesn't do
- 10:07it for the cameras, you know. And I feel like we have a
- 10:09lot of Yankees now, which is cool, a lot of I know,
- 10:11I hear a lot of players doing a lot of good. You just don't
- 10:15see it. Well, you showed it a couple of days ago. You
- 10:18were able to get with us Waldo Koberg a couple of times, but one
- 10:22wasn't a high school tell us how that whole thing came about, because maybe
- 10:24people who don't know the story want to know the story. Yes, so
- 10:28os Waldo you know, and me gotten to know him pretty well. I've
- 10:33been a huge fans that came up. I got the first opportunity to meet
- 10:39him through justin Time Baseball, which is a fantastic baseball youth development program in
- 10:46Westchester, New York. I have a great relationship with Justin Sherman and he
- 10:52had me come out to cover the camp and you know, highlight the day.
- 10:58So that's where I met as Waldo. And then I saw him another
- 11:00time last year's Pinstraight Bride where we met. Then Southampton, East Hampton.
- 11:05I'm sorry, just In Time Baseball did a clinic out there and it was
- 11:11a youth team and you know another baseball clinic when Justin time's the best and
- 11:16uh, you know, Brandon Steiner was there and as Waldo, he uh
- 11:22he started, he got the kids to gather around and you know, pulled
- 11:26out his phone at this clinic and he I just I saw it happening.
- 11:33So I took my camera because I was filming. I took my camera and
- 11:37I just placed it perfectly at as Waldough. So I got his phone because
- 11:41I knew I had a feeling someone special was gonna pop up on that phone.
- 11:45And you know, in my mind, I was I was thinking,
- 11:48maybe it is the captain and and it was, and it was It was
- 11:52such a cool moment. You know, the kids got super excited and that
- 11:56type of guy he is he really I met a lot of athletes in my
- 12:01career and he is one of the very best people. Forget that he plays
- 12:07for the New York Yankees. He is one of the kindest, most respectful,
- 12:13uh finest gentleman you could honestly meet in life. And it's amazing that
- 12:18he gets to, you know, represent the New York Yankees because in my
- 12:22mind, he's everything a Yankee should be. I've seen him just treat everyone
- 12:26the same, every single person that comes in his path, and he did
- 12:31you know, he does things like that, and you know they're Everyone has
- 12:35a good story about meeting as bold of Cabrera. I stand by that.
- 12:39Well, that is so cool, and of course on the field, you
- 12:41know, it's funny about it, not funny. But what's amazing about you
- 12:43guys is you get to show us the stories of these guys, whereas the
- 12:46average fan just gets to see them hit the homers, you know, So
- 12:50that I bring that perspective I think increases their likability in New York. And
- 12:52that's the reason why everybody was heartbroken about Geo, because Geo on the field
- 12:56and off the field, just an incredible guy. I got to meet him
- 13:00with Reine Groen. What a great guy though, and we missed him on
- 13:03the field too, right. I loved Geo. He was a great defensive
- 13:07third baseman. He was a solid bat. I do believe that at the
- 13:15time we needed to shake up, So I understood why we made that move.
- 13:18Right, it didn't work out, but we needed to shake up.
- 13:24And it's sad that it didn't work out. Obviously, I wish we got
- 13:28to keep go in hindsight, but you know, things weren't working in our
- 13:35favor. So I, like I say, you know, there are times
- 13:37that you know you don't want to see players go, but sometimes you just
- 13:43you gotta, you know, put feelings aside. Well, let me ask
- 13:46you about this. Obviously, Soto's brought up different energy. I want to
- 13:52ask about U Smallder real quickly, though. Were you disrespected by what Joe
- 13:56David said? Do you feel that same disrespect that everybody else did that night
- 14:00when he was like, well, you know, he barely made the team
- 14:03and blah blah blah. I mean it did sound pompous. And we all
- 14:05know New York broadcast teams in New York don't get the best media coverage and
- 14:11national coverage for sure, did you feel that same pattern of yourgos box dissing
- 14:16us again? You know, when anyone talks bad about us, it's it's
- 14:18whatever he wear. The New York Yankees were the greatest team in the history
- 14:22sports. Of course people aren't going to like us. Of course people are
- 14:24going to try and find the reasons to put us down. You know,
- 14:26a lot of people outside the New York market, new York media, new
- 14:31York fandom, aren't going to know what Oswaldo means to this team. There's
- 14:35a tweet of mine from July of last year, and I said, there's
- 14:39I basically said, there's no reason Oswaldo shouldn't be on the Yankees. He
- 14:43was in triple A, and it went like crazy, like it was going
- 14:46nuts. Everyone was quoting it saying like, you know, some people basically
- 14:50saying that, you know what am I talking about? Like kind of say
- 14:54I was wrong. When I saw what he was doing the other day,
- 14:56I was like, that's what he can do. He just needs the opportunity.
- 15:00So he has that that flair and that style and that swag. He's
- 15:05he's a Yankee man, and he he this isn't just a fluke. He
- 15:11he has he's young and he can be the best. I think he is
- 15:16when he's at his best, the best utility man in baseball. He can
- 15:18play every position. Well that's not the utility guys can play every position.
- 15:24He plays each one. Well, you know he's had a few errors here
- 15:28or there, but man, he he is so sweet. Man. That
- 15:31swing is just a sweet swing. It's right, it's it's unbelievable. Almost
- 15:37sweet swing too. I think of him, I think of that swing.
- 15:39But he has that, he has that thermin attitude. He'll run through a
- 15:43wall for the ball, Yes he will. All right. You mentioned him
- 15:46meeting at the Pintrip Pride event, and of course we're all kind of connected
- 15:50to the Hall of Fame signings, so we get their alerts and everything like
- 15:52that. How has that event helped you grow the bron Zoo? Because you
- 15:56and I were backstage Ricky Henderson and walking by Bernie Williams. I mean you're
- 16:02kind of used to it. I'm I still get a bit starstruck because these
- 16:04guys we grew up watching them, right, So what's it mean to you
- 16:07though? Have that Mike being able to do that? Maybe there's a media
- 16:11guy. How has that event helped you grow the brand. Yeah, I
- 16:15mean that event in particular has gotten me some unbelievable uh interviews for the Zoo
- 16:19with the fans too, and the vendors, and it's it's the Yankee event
- 16:25of the year. It's amazing what they're doing. I love Hall of Fame
- 16:27signings and I appreciate them, grateful for them, and you know, their
- 16:30their respect of us and allowing us to come. And yeah, I mean
- 16:36we've been lucky to cover a lot of amazing events in the past year.
- 16:41But like I tell people, our greatest strength and my greatest strength, I'm
- 16:48not a one man show. That I got my my producers, my guys
- 16:52that you know, they're they're there with me, even just like shooting questions
- 16:56off that I got Matt Ricker, Joe Marinella, Eddie Mafia, Michael Emiliano,
- 17:02Sean Moodin, Matt Epley, Jonathan Santos, matt Ricor has been with
- 17:07me from the very beginning. And uh, you know, I'm we we
- 17:14just have great conversations that lead the question ideas and things like that, and
- 17:18they're they're there to enjoy the experience with me, which is which is awesome.
- 17:21And yeah, we get to cover these unbelievable events and I'm just it's
- 17:29just so amazing to see the growth of what we've done. Because I started
- 17:33this for the fans, you know, I would say, yeah, I
- 17:36started this maybe for myself to find the opportunity. But as it continued to
- 17:41grow, I I realized that what we're doing is not about me. It's
- 17:47not about me at all. It's about us. And I'm no one wants
- 17:52to watch me talk. I'm not a broadcaster. No one wants to watch
- 17:55me talk. That was never my goal to be a broadcaster, you know
- 17:56anything. I wanted to be a host, and I I thought the best
- 18:00host let the let the talent, if you will, which is the fans.
- 18:06They're all talented, and they're all funny and say amazing interesting stuff,
- 18:10answer great questions. They guide the show. I'm just kind of, you
- 18:15know, setting it up, if you will, like getting it established.
- 18:18You know, it's being a host. We saw John Boy, you know,
- 18:22hosting Aaron Boone that same night and that energy and we'll get to the
- 18:26fans in a second. That energy he brought to that night. I feel
- 18:30like it's carried into the regular season. I mean, he's even fired up.
- 18:33And here's the thing. I mean, you can ask him a question
- 18:36and he sometimes has his frustrating answer and postgame, but this week, this
- 18:40year, he sounds confident. I don't know what changed, but he sounds
- 18:42fired up and confident this year. Yeah. Look, I've I've never really
- 18:48said anything bad about Aaron Boone as the manager. It's not my style.
- 18:51I don't say bad things about any of the players. After the twenty twenty
- 18:55two season, I thought, Okay, maybe it's time for a managerical change.
- 18:59Then after last I was like, maybe it's time for a front office
- 19:00change. I've always been a supporter of Cashman and I've always liked Boon and
- 19:07I did not think last year was his fault at all, and I think
- 19:11he got a lot of hate for no reason. There was nothing he could
- 19:15have done to bring us to a win like he did. Couldn't protect Aaron
- 19:19Boone from that right field Ben's in la Okay, yeah, judh, yeah,
- 19:22yeah, he couldn't. I mean, he did everything he could last
- 19:26year. So I was like, you know what, even last year actually
- 19:27helped I think his his his stature as the manager, because he really fall
- 19:33through a lot of Crapp and he defended his guys, and I mean I
- 19:37like the style too of you know, getting lighting a fire under some of
- 19:41the players, but he protects his guys. That's his m O. And
- 19:45I think that's why the players like him, and I think he has I
- 19:48got to go to a couple events with him this year, the one you
- 19:51mentioned. He knows how to be the manager of the New York Yankees.
- 19:56He knows how to answer questions, give you something, not always everything,
- 20:00but he knows. But he's honest and he's up front and he answers the
- 20:04questions. And I really respect that he really answers the questions. And I
- 20:11really want to see him win a ring with the Yankees, like I want
- 20:15him to have that championship too, along with Judge. He's been around for
- 20:18a while now and he's earned it, and I think his confidence is justifiably
- 20:23so. He knows what's in front of him, He knows the roster he
- 20:26has, he knows his guys, he knows what they're capable of, like
- 20:30you know, us fans who watch every day know what they're capable of.
- 20:34I'm all for mister Aaron Boone to finally get that ring because he didn't get
- 20:38it in oh three, Let's get it twenty one years oh later, love
- 20:41it, Love it. By the way, they're up to the same start
- 20:44as they were back in that same year. We're is at Boone starting it.
- 20:47By the way. He was an in season acquisition at the tradead line
- 20:49from the Reds. But besides that, you mentioned the fans. Obviously you
- 20:53probably talked to them last year and they were very opinionated about Aaron Boone.
- 20:57But when you're trying to establish a connection to the Yankees, I hate to
- 21:00ask this, do those critiques hit the cutting room floor? Do you include
- 21:04everybody's opinion about the team in your videos? How does that go? That's
- 21:08a fair question. Look, I I'm as positive as possible. That's my
- 21:15emmo. I'm I'm a positive Yankee fan because you know, it's the one
- 21:21thing life's tough. I got my Yankee and that's what I look forward to.
- 21:25But it did hit a point where I said, you know, I
- 21:26do have to post some opinionated if I'm going to be a voice of the
- 21:30fans. I believe the Bronx Zoo is the voice of Yankee fans. I
- 21:34have to show it as it is. So I did start posting some more
- 21:41hot takes, controversial takes, and I won't bash a player or an individual
- 21:48if it's a poor performance or they you know, I have posted stuff where
- 21:52it's like this person needs to do better, we need to trade this person,
- 21:56Like, I'm not hiding that stuff, but as long as it's in
- 21:59a take full, respectful way, I'll post it. If it's disrespectful to
- 22:04the person or it would be to their family, I'm not gonna post that
- 22:10content because that's just that's not who we want to be. But we will.
- 22:15We're going to be an honest platform. We're going to be a voice
- 22:17of the fans. All right. I gotta say this, do you get
- 22:21any post game? Because I hate to say it, but after postgame?
- 22:22People tend to drink a lot during the game and their reactions right very base
- 22:26on that, must say, Drake, what's the best time to gauge their
- 22:30reaction before they go in after the game? Where where do you find the
- 22:33biggest and most contributions if you will? Yeah, you know it really it
- 22:41goes both before and after. During sometimes while we're watching the game, like
- 22:47we you get a lot of excitement after the game, clearly, especially after
- 22:52a win and after a loss, could be tough. But we're also we
- 22:56try to be a family show as well. We talked to kids, we
- 23:00talked to the older generation, and at all times they'll give you really good,
- 23:04honest answers. You know, guys who saw Mantle play and kids who
- 23:07love Aaron Judge and it's their favorite player. You're always gonna get great stuff
- 23:12before or after. I like going before and like a Friday night I love
- 23:17Friday night games. I don't know what it is. The excitement's always there.
- 23:19So going to Friday night before, hang out at Billy's, watch the
- 23:23game, and then after go back outside. It's you know, for the
- 23:29amped up excitement of course after the game. But yeah, you get good
- 23:34stuff no matter. You can put me in the middle of you know,
- 23:38Manhattan at two am and I'll find a good good age. Oh I'm sure.
- 23:44And I'm sure you go in the in the middle of the game too,
- 23:45like stadium through the same because that mic is pretty damn good quality on
- 23:48the camera too. Well yeah, I've never actually brought the mic into the
- 23:52stadium, but like I'll walk around outside and I watch on the boards and
- 23:56stuff that that's the one. That's the one thing that I think a lot
- 24:00of people don't see too is I have to be on my game and be
- 24:03like outside ready to go in sometimes the ninth inning and it could be a
- 24:07walk off. So I'm like looking through the board, watching that giant board
- 24:11in the concourse area like that too. She's on the she's on the ground
- 24:14level waiting for the game, and all of a sudden, the all run
- 24:15happens. You know exactly, So you know you're ready to go always though,
- 24:21but you know there's always something to be captured, and we're we're trying
- 24:25to capture moments, all right. Verdugo has already made a mark now and
- 24:29of course he was hated as a Red Sox, but now he's becoming beloved.
- 24:33The dog's mantra. What do you think about that? Loved it?
- 24:37I think, I said on one of the Instagram posts last night. We're
- 24:41savages in the box and where dogs in the park love it. That's the
- 24:45attitude we need. He's underrated, I said. From the very first week
- 24:49of spring training, getting Stroman was like a mixture, not CC level better
- 24:55than aj Burnett. So we got our picture. Soda was get into Sharer.
- 25:00Obviously, I think Soda is a more generational talent than to Sherer was,
- 25:04but he was a huge star, and I think people kind of forget
- 25:07how big that acquisition was when it happened. And getting Verdugo is like getting
- 25:11Nick Swisher. That's the type of off season we had. Verdugo is gonna
- 25:15see me. We're sort of like, look at like twenty oh nine together.
- 25:18Is that what you're saying? Absolutely, I thought this was the best
- 25:21offseason we have had since two thousand and nine, without question. Well,
- 25:25you know, it's fifteen years since that last World Series, and my goodness,
- 25:30I don't want to stretch to twenty. So maybe a guy like Sodo
- 25:33is bringing a culture James that we need to definitely latch onto here and they
- 25:40have already. Well absolutely, I mean, you know, it seems history
- 25:44in the Yankees universe seems to repeat itself sometimes. Fifteen years ago was nine
- 25:51and then the longest stretch before that was nineteen eighty one to nineteen ninety six,
- 25:56fifteen years. So you know, I know we didn't in nineteen eighty
- 26:00one, but I'm just saying, like making, you know, a World
- 26:03Series nineteen eighty one to nineteen ninety six, twenty nine to twenty twenty four,
- 26:07fifteen years later, fifteen years apart, and New York's ready, you
- 26:12know the Yankees. The Yankees, I think are at a point where they
- 26:15will do anything to win. Because everyone talks about the salary cap, not
- 26:22that we have a cap, but our annual salary and things like that.
- 26:30The amount of money that will pour into the Yankees organization if they win a
- 26:33World Series will be tremendous, tremendous. So I think Soto could be right
- 26:40there behind Otani at number two from a best selling jersey this season, I
- 26:45mean the Judge will be three's. That's how you know, impactful of a
- 26:49guy he is. And the culture, the attitude, the style, the
- 26:55swag, all of them, they're all bringing something to the table. With
- 26:59Jake Kosak of the Bronx Zoo right now, what oh TBZ is the Bronx
- 27:03Zoo and and the this was the Bronx who underscore TBZ. And you know
- 27:07you have your own voice too on Twitter, So I want to ask you
- 27:10about Twitter, any crazy takes you've seen. I heard someone say that they
- 27:15should be trading Judge already. The other time, and that was on the
- 27:18first weekend. But I'm telling you, Jake, if this was around in
- 27:21nineteen ninety seven, after Marion a Blue Deck came against the Indians, they
- 27:26say, trade his ass. You know, I hate to say it that
- 27:27way, but that's what Twitter has become. I you know, it's disappointing
- 27:30because it's a it's a community that could actually grow the support of the team,
- 27:33couldn't it. Yeah. I mean I get a kick out of Yankee
- 27:37Twitter. It's it's such a different place than like other social media apps,
- 27:41even in person. I mean just some of the things that are said.
- 27:44I I'm a guy who laughs at everything, so you gotta have thick skins
- 27:49sometimes. I've I've definitely been through my fair share of abuse on Yankee Twitter.
- 27:56When I got my Yankee haircut that one time. Okay, Yeah,
- 28:00it was crazy from the Mets spectators. They don't got fans, So Yankee
- 28:03Twitter has some hot takes. Absolutely. Social media was around in like nineteen
- 28:07ninety six, they'd want to trade Jeter, they'd want to trade all these
- 28:11guys. It's like kind of like, yeah, the Judge thing, I've
- 28:14heard that from like people, It's like that crazy uncle take. Sometimes we're
- 28:18like, oh, I get rid of him. He's a bomb, he's
- 28:21the captain of the Yankees, and he's probably going to hit fifty home runs.
- 28:22So let's calm our role a little bit. I think that on Twitter,
- 28:30you know, sometimes people just say things to say things, but I
- 28:33specifically, I don't know if I could say anything stood out, but I'm
- 28:40sure there'll be something said this year that does well. I know that the
- 28:42jersey had become an issue. Now, your ballplayer, right back in the
- 28:45day, I believe you told me played yeah, like Little League and then
- 28:48up until I think I stopped playing in freshman year high school. Well,
- 28:52no matter what, you wore a jersey and I that jersey was like see
- 28:55through and sweaty. That'd be kind of bothersome, wasn't it. So what
- 28:59was your take when you saw this whole? And I love fanatics, but
- 29:02the jerseys have to be talked about now it's become a talking point. Yeah,
- 29:06I don't they seemed a little cheap. I don't like cheap. There's
- 29:08enough money in baseball that we make high quality stuff, especially a team like
- 29:11the New York Yankees give them high quality jerseys, equipment, they're the Yankees.
- 29:17They're on TV primetime against the Astros. Make sure that they're not sweating
- 29:21through the jerseys. I do love the new Away jerseys. I will say
- 29:23that they look really cool, but yeah, no, the materials are cheap.
- 29:27I like the old ones. I mean, the Nike ones aren't bad.
- 29:30But if you remember those thick ones, like the Jeter ones, like
- 29:34those were good material Like maybe sweated a lot more, but they were I
- 29:41missed the stripes on the side. I gotta say that was sort of a
- 29:42tradute. I I'm good without it. I think I think these ones are
- 29:47my more favorite Awaye ones. I like those old like spring chaining alternative jerseys
- 29:53with the blue mesh kind of you know what I'm talking about. Yeah,
- 29:57you know why. I was there the weekend they did the city City Connect
- 30:03jerseys, and I was like, this is the first time I've ever seen
- 30:04them not in pinstripes at home. I mean that was a little different to
- 30:07me. Oh the no, the the nicknames and stuff right there. Yeah,
- 30:11yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if they'll get a City
- 30:15Connect. I imagine they might, but we'll see. Well, Jake,
- 30:19this has been great, and of course We're going to follow your content,
- 30:22but I gotta say you've been hyping up to Twitter and the Instagram or there's
- 30:26gonna be a big year. What exactly is in store for the Bronx Zoo
- 30:30that maybe you can leak right now? Oh, for the Bronx Who this
- 30:33year, we're definitely trying to branch out into new ideas and new concepts beyond
- 30:41the street interviews. That's always gonna be our number one. But there is
- 30:45an idea that I've had in my head for a long time. And if
- 30:52you've ever envisioned college game day with baseball, that's all I'll say. Well,
- 31:00guess what that that could fit really well because we all become that college
- 31:03kid again watching our team, and I think that would resonate right in front
- 31:07of Baby Ruth Plaza. How about that? Now that would be a local
- 31:10stay tuned. All right, Well, we'll we'll figure it, we'll we'll
- 31:12find out with that. And you know what, if you ever want to
- 31:15cover adaptive sports, I do wheelchairs off ball would love to have you come
- 31:18out there and see what they're doing, absolutely in Eismower Park, So branch
- 31:22it out. Maybe I love it. I love it all real fast.
- 31:26Where do we We haven't seen an opening day this exciting. I don't know.
- 31:30I haven't been there the last few years. I felt like the excitement
- 31:33was low down last year and maybe two years ago. But this year they
- 31:37finally have something to look forward to coming back. I mean, I I
- 31:41sent your excitement early on. But how different of an opening day are you
- 31:44seeing? An opening weekend are you seeing? This is gonna be the most
- 31:47electric opening day at Yankee Stadium that you can have envisioned in the last decade.
- 31:51It's gonna be I've been saying SODA's gonna hit a home run. It's
- 31:53gonna happen. I'm not one for predictions, but I feel in my heart
- 31:56Soda will hit a home run. The atmosphere for the whole weekend because it's
- 32:00a night game on Saturday too, which is awesome. It's going to be
- 32:06unlike any opening weekend that you've seen before. Just the fans is just gonna
- 32:10be so into it. It's gonna be loud, it's gonna be packed.
- 32:14It's gonna be I'm talking the whole weekend, not just Friday. So,
- 32:17uh, this is gonna be a special one. You're trying to get there
- 32:21Saturday night. We'll see what we do, and if I do, I'll
- 32:22let you know. We'll see you there outside Gate six. You know where
- 32:24to find the zoo, all right, Jake Kosak, thanks so much,
- 32:28and follow him at the Bronx Zoo Underscore TBZ and your own Twitter as well.
- 32:32Maybe give the spelling a little bit differently than I did on our Zoom
- 32:36invite. Yeah, just at the Bronx Zoo Underscore tbz's and then your own
- 32:42is Jake Cosak, right, so yeah on TikTok Jake kozak uh and then
- 32:46that's our Bronxuo content on TikTok. Well, thanks for coming on the day.
- 32:52Having a huge opening weekend in Houston. Let's go